Year constructed: 1882
Alternate name: Des Moines River Bridge
Bridge type: Pin-Connected Pratt Through Truss
National Register of Historic Places status: Listed
Length: 561 feet
Width: 13.9 feet
Spans: 3
FHWA: 240475
Jurisdiction: Marion County
Location: 216th Place over the Des Moines River, 4.1 miles south of Pella, Section 33, T76N-R18W (Clay and Prairie Lake Townships)
Details
In the spring of 1881 a survey for the proposed Des Moines and St. Louis (D&S) Railroad was made through Marion County. The D&S generally followed the existing Chicago, Burlington and Quincy line from the county's eastern edge to Harvey on its way to Des Moines. At Harvey, however, the D&S branched from the CB&Q route, crossing the Des Moines River about two miles northwest of the CB&Q bridge, and there it extended northward. Construction of the new line began soon after the surveying; by the end of 1882 it was completed. The D&S was later acquired by the Wabash, St. Louis and Pacific Railroad--called the Wabash Railroad--and with it was included this wrought iron truss over the Des Moines River near Harvey. Probably built with construction of the original line in 1882, the Wabash Railroad Bridge, as it has come to be called, consisted of three pinned Pratt through trusses, supported by iron cylinder piers. The bridge carried railroad traffic until it was acquired by Marion County along with the adjacent right-of-way for use as a county road sometime after 1946. (Presumably it acquired its nickname, "One Doller [sic] Bridge," at this time.) In 1951 (possibly the acquisition date) the county rehabilitated the Wabash Bridge, replacing part of its substructure. Since then it has functioned in place, with no additional alterations. The Wabash Railroad Bridge is distinguished as a relatively early, multiple-span example of railroad truss construction [adapted from Fraser 1992].